Wars of the Heart
Amelia Luna-dynn is a young damsel of unassuming character. However, there is a deadly secret she harbors: that she is the daughter of a forbidden race, a tribe despised by the royals of the Kingdom. She is the sole survivor, discreetly living an unseen life as a commoner. But there are scars on her back that betray her origin, requiring her to cleanse herself in order to stay alive and unrecognised. With such reins attached to her race, it is impossible to find someone who would love her despite the dangers of her origin. But one night, when at the verge of being eaten by beasts, she is saved by a mysterious man from the grasp of death. Curiosity drives the damsel to chase love. Despite being downtrodden, she stumbles upon the opportunity meeting with high society by joining a Book Club run by the beautiful daughter of the Duke, Charlene Walterus. Amelia makes friendships with nobles and soon comes close to a romance with a man she suspects to be her secret rescuer, but is hopeless that his heart is far gone in the arms of the duke’s daughter. Will she win a wedding with the man of her dreams? But most importantly, will her fantasies of a perfect marriage come true? Or will she suffer a strained marital relationship, with unrequited feelings, far from the heart of the one she loves? Excerpt: That night, he was exhilarated to have married the woman of his desires. But Charlene had told him a bothersome fact about the origin of his newly wedded wife that he could not shake off his mind, for he knew she would have told him, had it been true. The tall man stepped into Amelia’s chamber and found her seated at the rim of the bed, blushing. The very sight of her innocent disposition had always brought him the insane urge to sweep her up in his arms and protect her. But before they would make love, there was an important question blaring at the edge of his mind. “Y-you’re here”, her soft voice was almost breathless. She rose to her feet, but rested against the wall, shy and nervous. “Amelia”, he tasted her name, drawing close to her. Tenderly placing a finger under her chin and lifting her face to meet his, he gazed into her eyes and asked, “Is it true that you are of the Celeste Clan?” There was silence in response and fear in her eyes. She did not deny it. A strong feeling of hurt enveloped his chest, when he realised that she was no different. Charlene’s words about her were not simply contemptuous lies of jealousy planted to his attention, but the raw truth. ~ Amelia gasped when he rammed his fist against the wall in the absolute pangs of frustration. It was like it burnt his senses to think that she would deliberately hold something as significant as her origin from him, regardless of all things of his secrets that he had shared with her, while they were yet secret lovers. She knew the fault was hers, but she had been too scared to relay, for she had loved him far too much to lose him. “Why did you hide this from me?” he breathed, voice cold and low and deadly, colored by his unpronounced rage. His face was dangerously close to hers, such that she could hear his very breath, seething. Tears began to pierce her eyes, threatening to fall. She had never meant to deceive him. But in that moment, she was afraid. Heart throbbing loud enough to be heard, her lips were quivering and she shivered. When his gaze swept down at her frightened disposition, there was a flicker of tenderness in his eyes. But it lasted not even as long as a moment’s worth. He was cold. He did not confront her for the secrets she was keeping, but silently withdrew himself. There were many things she wished to say in apology, but she could not find her voice. And by the time she could speak, he had left her chambers. Tears flurried down her face. She could not believe that her fears had ruined the very first day of her marriage. It was the day she had wished to divulge her secret to him, but it seemed like it had already been out.
47. Love is merely a Letter away
Love is merely a Letter away
~
Charlene's Personal Bed Chambers,
The Estate of Duke Walterus,
The Town of Crimsonton,
Kingdom of Velicia,
Eventide,
The Eighth Day of the Month of November,
Thirty Third Year of the Reign of King Jesse Crestings
In a heartbeat, Charlene Walterus realised that, clearly, Head Knight Erion was avoiding meeting her, because he was irked by the fact that she was there when the Royal gentleman, Prince Rayzenn Crestings had been calling out on his incompetency and lashing out in her presence. So his behaviour wasn't a means of outright ignoring her, but the fall of his own pride in her eyes.
Charlene decided that she would win his heart back, the way she always did.
She rose from her soft bed and walked to the study. "Christy, bring me some rose essence", she called.
"Yes, my lady", was heard from the Balcony, followed by the sound of scuttling footsteps. From one of the shelves in Charlene's private library, the Head Maid fetched a little glass perfume bottle and brought it to the girl, who was seated at a desk.
"Here it is, my lady", said she, placing the flask of blush coloured perfume upon the table.
"Thank you, Christy", the Duke's daughter nodded, before taking it and sprinkling drops upon a petal plated parchment. It was usually such scented pages that she used, for writing letters to her associates; especially Knight Erion.
He had mentioned to her many times, that the scent roused some uncontrollable emotions in him and that he loved reading whatever she wrote to him and sleeping with her letter spread over his chest so the perfume could intoxicate his senses with dreams of her.
The damsel was not only willing to gain his heart by means of the simple and ravishing aroma, but also by the contents of her letter.
Charlene carefully unsealed a short glass bottle of maroon ink and sprinkled a few small drops of the rose essence into it. After mixing the solution with a little brush, she drew the quill from a side of her table and dipped it in the ink.
Once her plume was ready to write words, she began drafting her loving letter to the Head Knight.
As her cursives made their way across the page, the cool breeze from the balcony's open doors made its way in and played with the curtains and the edge of her page. It sent a shiver down her spine, for the plum coloured dress from Lady Hildeth's had left her slender arms and back completely exposed.
She arose and made her way to the wardrobes of garments and drew out furs that she could wrap about her shoulders before continuing with the letter.
Charlene Walterus took her time with thinking through everything she wished to say to him, and wrote earnestly, and continued on and on until it was ready to seal his heart.
Head Maid Christy walked in to attend to her and bring her a bowl of hot soup. Then, the woman duly closed the doors of the balcony and lit a candle to shed light upon the young lady's letter.
"Thank you, Christy", Charlene nodded, smiling, for her writing to Erion had seen completion by then. "You may go prepare my dinner. I have no need as of now. But please send a delivery boy here to my room; I have a letter that needs to be sent", she instructed.
"Yes, my lady", the elderly Head Maid bowed. "Would you like me to call for the lad that regularly takes your letters?"
"Yes please", Charlene nodded, before turning to her letter. It was followed by the sound of her maid closing the door behind her.
The golden haired damsel leaned back and read the full length of what she had written.
"Dearest Erion,
It breaks my heart to think that you had not met me today after the conference at the Reading Association had folded to a close. I had been waiting to see you, but was left to receive word that you had left. There was much that I wished to say to you when we met, but I could not.
It is alright though, I can simply write it all to you in this letter and know that you will hold it in good faith and meet me later.
But please, the content I am about to relay to you is highly private and rather dangerous to society. So I dearly request and urge you to burn this letter in flames right after you read it. Thank you in advance, Erion.
As you know well, Cryspus' break up and sudden marriage to Lucia last month was a brutal shock to me because the last time we had spoken, I knew he was feverishly in love with me and was begging to reconcile. I only felt more sorry for him than vengeance, because I knew he had only married her to make a point to me.
But now, he is trying to secretly visit me every day and to win my love back. I know I will not turn to him, but I do think of him greatly. I am certainly not in love with him, but I crave a companion who would always be by my side and take care of me, whom I can also take care of and cherish. It is the feeling that I am lonely that is enveloping me, not love for Cryspus in general.
But with his ardent persuasion of me, I am afraid I am relent to his urges and meet him. However, every time my heart feels the longing to write back to him, I think of you. It is you who stays in my mind, for you have told me countless times to never return to a relationship that once broke.
It is still severely difficult and I miss meeting you. Please do come and visit me when you have the time and circumstance.
Until then,
Yours lovingly,
Charlene Walterus."
~